TDS Desk:

The next parliament will serve as a constitution reform council apart from its regular duties for the first 270 days or nine months.

It will add the proposals passed in referendum to the constitution within this time period. The National Consensus Commission came up with such proposals for the implementation of the July Charter.

The consensus commission also proposed an alternative if the parliament fails to accomplish the task. The commission proposed that the government will prepare the constitution-related proposals as a draft bill (Constitution Amendment Act).

The bill will be placed for a referendum. If it is passed in the referendum, the Constitutional Reform Council will approve the proposals while keeping their main intent intact. If the next parliament, acting as the Constitutional Reform Council, fails to approve them within 270 days, the proposals will automatically be incorporated into the constitution, professor Ali Riaz, vice-chair of the National Consensus Commission said.

The National Consensus Commission submitted its recommendations on implementing the July Charter to chief adviser of the interim government professor Muhammad Yunus this afternoon, Tuesday. Later, p0rofessor Ali Riaz spoke at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital. Members of the commission were present at the event.

At the press conference, Ali Riaz said the National Consensus Commission had not set any specific timeframe for the government to hold the referendum. The commission recommended that the referendum could be held any day between the issuance of the ‘July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order’ and the day of the national election.

On the referendum, Ali Riaz said it would be held as a single package question, asking whether people support the charter and the draft bill.

During the discussion at the Consensus Commission, a question was raised about what would happen to the political parties’ ‘notes of dissent’. In response, Ali Riaz said they had advised the government to present these to the people. After obtaining the public’s verdict, the political parties would make their decisions. The commission is placing greater importance on public agreement or disagreement on forty-eight issues.